A Life Change
by shadow-eyed-girl
Summary: Max Regnery finds out he is a father to a 12 year old girl named Alex. She comes to live with him after her mother has a fatal car crash. Will Alex let her father in, and will Max be able to be the father she needs? Please read and review. Please don't judge this based on the saddle club. I don't own the saddle club. WARNING: May be spanking in some chapters.
1. A Life Change

A Life Change

"You can take her home now Mr. Regnery," the man behind the counter said.

'I have a name.' I thought to myself.

I had just spent an hour waiting for Max Regnery to fill out paperwork stating that he was my father and now my legal guardian. 'Great.' I thought bitterly.

He walked away from the desk with a "Thank You," and came over to me.

"Here Alexandria, I can get that," Max said grabbing my bag.

"My name is Alex." I said following him to the car or should I say truck.

The ride to his home was quite. I don't think he knew what to say, and I really didn't want to talk. He was my father, but I had never met him. He and my mom had a thing once, and she never told him about me. He seemed nice I guess, but I could not see him as my dad yet, if ever. It took about a half hour to get to Pine Hollow. He pulled up to a very large barn.

"Here we are," he said with a smile. He put the car in park and got out. "We can go up to the house in a bit. I thought you might like to see the stable first."

I knew he was being nice, but horses were not my thing. I rode a horse once at a fair. Not the best memory I have, but I didn't say that.

"Sure." I said instead getting out of the car. I walked after him as he gave me the tour. I pet some of the horses, but I really just wanted to be alone and write in my journal. I was upset to say the least. "Can we go to your house now? I'm tired." I said after a little while.

"Yeah, sure," he said leading the way back to his truck. We drove around the barn a few feet to a nice looking house. He stopped the truck, and we got out. I helped unload my things from his truck, and he led me into the house and upstairs to a bedroom.

"Here is you room Alex," he said.

It was a rather large room with purple walls and bedding, but it didn't look babyish.

"My mother…your grandmother picked out the bedding and wall paint. I hope you like it." He sounded nervous.

"I do. Thank You." I put my stuff down in a pile on the floor. I sat on the bed.

"I'll leave you to get settled," he said. "Call for me if you need anything. Okay?"

I nodded and he left.

I fell back on the bed looking up at the ceiling. Well my life has officially changed.


	2. New

New

_Dear Journal,_

_ I don't know how to feel anymore. My mom is gone, and I have moved far from my home to live with a father I have never met. This is just too much. I am angry at her and that makes me feel bad. How could she not tell me my father was alive? He never even knew I existed. I bet he doesn't even want me here._

I slammed my Journal shut as fresh tears rolled down my cheeks. I laid on the bed and fell asleep. I guess I really was tired.

I woke a few hours later to a gentle knock on my door. I sat up. "Come in." I said trying to rub the dried tears off my face.

"I'm sorry if I woke you dear," a woman said opening my door. I looked up and saw who I thought to be my grandmother. "I just wanted to come and tell you dinner is ready."

"Thank you," I said getting up.

"I also wanted to meet you," she said coming in a little more. "My name is Mrs. Regnery but everyone calls me Mrs. Reg. I am Max's mother."

"It's nice to meet you. I am Alex," I said. 'This felt kind of awkward.'

She came up and hugged me. 'Okay I was wrong. This is awkward.' I thought to myself. I hugged her back despite myself.

"Come on let's get you fed," she said leading the way down stairs to the dinner table.

Max and another woman were already sitting at the table. I figured she was Max's wife. He mentioned her. She smiled at me. I smiled back, but I was wondering if she really was happy to see me. Me being here changes everything for me and them.

"Alex this is Deb. Deb this is Alex." Max introduces us.

"Hello Alex. It's nice to me you." She said holding out her hand.

"Hello Deb." I said shaking her outstretched hand. "It's nice to meet you too."

"Please sit and eat," Max said to me.

I sat down and Mrs. Reg filled my plate. I could not eat all of it. I did eat some though. I didn't want to be rude. I just have not felt like eating this past week.

"Thank You it was very good." I tell Mrs. Reg. "I think I will go unpack some more of my things now." I said getting up out of my chair.

"Okay Alex." Max said. "Don't stay up too late. I want you to come with me to the stable tomorrow and meet everyone. You can ride too if you would like."

'Great.' I thought sarcastically. I didn't know if I wanted to meet people right now. I was just feeling overwhelmed. I felt like I could not talk to anyone. The only person I could talk to about how I was feeling was my mom. I felt tears forming in my eyes.

"Okay," is all I said before I run up the stairs. I had to be alone.

I was unpacking for about an hour before I heard another knock at my door.

"Come in."

Max opened my door and came in. He sat on my bed.

"Come sit. I want to talk to you," he said patting the bed beside him.

I sat beside him not knowing what he was going to say. Maybe he wanted me gone. Maybe I was just too much to handle for him and his wife.

"I know you are having a hard time right now," he said looking at the floor. "I wanted you to know that I would have been there for you if I would have known you were born. I'm sorry that I was not there for you growing up, and I am sorry that your mom can't be here with you now."

Silent tears started falling.

"I am here for you Alex. I am not going anywhere now. I want you to be a part of our family."

He wanted me here. I cried harder. He put an arm around my shoulders and I absentmindedly leaned into him.

"I know it will take some time, but I want you to let me in. I want you to have a family here and to be happy." He kissed the top of my head. "I am here for you." We stayed like that for a while. I honestly didn't know what to say or believe. I wanted to believe him, but he didn't know me.

"I'll let you sleep," he said hugging me to him. He stood up and walked to the door.

"Alex, if you need anything I am right down the hall."

I nodded and he left the room.

I felt overwhelmed. Did he really want me here? Did he really want me to be his daughter?


	3. Socializing

Socializing

The next morning at breakfast I could hardly keep my eyes open. The nightmares kept me awake. I kept dreaming about my mom's accident. I would run to her in my dream and see her eyes open, but she was staring blankly up to the sky. She was bleeding from gashes on her face and head. As I thought about it, tears were fighting their way out of my eyes. I shook the thoughts away. I hate crying, and lately that is all I have been doing.

I looked down at my cereal Mrs. Reg gave me. I was not very hungry. "Good morning," I heard Max say coming down the stairs behind me. "Did you sleep well?" he asked me.

I tried to hide my tiredness. "Yes, thank you." I told him. He didn't need to know I can't sleep. I didn't want to be a burden to him….well any more than I already am.

I kept thinking about what he said last night. It was hard for me to believe that this stranger wanted me to be a part of his family. I knew I could be a handful sometimes, and I didn't know if he would want me after he got to know me.

"So, are you ready to come to the stables with me?" he asked with a smile.

"Sure." I said getting up from the table. I followed him out to the barn.

"I think you will like everyone here," he said. "They are excited to meet you."

I wonder what he told them about me. I didn't think it was very respectable for a man like him to have an estranged daughter from an old relationship. Maybe he told them that I was his niece or something. Or he could have told them that he was married to my mom while they were together. That would sound better than an old girlfriend he knocked up and then abandoned.

"Here we are," he said. "I thought they all may be in here." We were at the lounge. I followed him inside the door where we were met with lots of eyes.

"Hello everyone," he said. "This is my daughter Alex." Everyone looked at me. Well I guess they knew I was his daughter now.

"Hello," I said shyly. I felt awkward meeting new people. They started coming up and introducing themselves. After I shook all their hands they left to go tack up whatever that meant.

"Okay Alex the lesson starts in half an hour. Do you want to ride today?" Max asked me.

"I don't know," I said. "I have only ridden once, and that was at a fair. All the horse did was walked in circles." I really didn't know if I felt comfortable with this.

"Well I wouldn't want you to do much today," he said. "You can just walk around the ring while the others jump." He looked at my face. I think he could tell I was nervous. "Or we can have a few private lessons first before you join the others in the group lessons.

"I think I would like that better." I said looking down. I really didn't know if I wanted to even ride horses, but I didn't want to let this man down. I felt like I owned him.

"Okay, that is fine with me. I want you to be comfortable," he smiled as I lifted my head. "You can have your first lesson after their lesson. How about you come watch them?"

"Okay," I said. I hope I was not putting him out. Maybe I should have just joined in the group lesson. Now he will have to teach twice as much.

A few minutes later I was watching Max teach the other kids. They were jumping fences and made it look easy. It did look like fun although I am pretty sure I would not look as graceful.

"So, what do you think," the head stable hand Red came to stand beside me.

"They look graceful, and they look like they are having fun." I tried to smile at him. It just felt weak. I am sure the lack of sleep did not help my mood.

"You can be doing the same soon I am sure. Your dad is a great teacher."

"Yeah Max seems like he really enjoys teaching them," I said. I looked down. "Hey Red what has he told you guys about me," I asked him.

"Well…he told me that you're his daughter that he didn't know existed. He said your mother past away and that when he found out you were his daughter he wanted you to come here to live with him." He paused. "I don't think he told everyone what he told me though. I don't think he told them about your mom. He said he wanted you to talk about it only if you wanted to."

"Oh," I said. I looked back up to watch the other kids ride. I am glad Max had not told everyone what happened to my mom. I wonder what they all thought of me though. "Thanks for telling me the truth," I told Red. "I am glad he didn't tell everyone about my mom. I'm not ready to talk about it." Red just smiled at me sympathetically.

He soon left to go work. I watched the rest of the lesson. They really did look like they were having fun. Maybe I will like this. Maybe.

Max came over to me while the class was cooling down there horses.

"So, how about we get you out there," he said with a smile. I nodded, and followed him into the stable.

"I'm going to put you on Patch today. He is the calmest horse at the stable," he pointed at a cute paint horse.

"Okay," I said.

Max taught me how to put the saddle and bridle on. Apparently that is what tacking up means. We got Patch ready and lead him out to the ring. I was kind of nervous. Max handed me a helmet. "Here put this on." I fastened it to my head.

"Let me help you up," Max said. He put his hand under my left foot and hoisted me up onto Patch. It was higher than I realized. I kind of got scared I would fall.

"Are you okay," Max asked me.

"Yeah," I lied. I straightened up and told myself I would be fine. He started walking us around the ring.

The lesson ended after about an hour. I was stressed. There was so much to remember. I had to know how to hold the reigns, how to sit properly, how to make Patch go and stop, how to turn, and much more. I was feeling overwhelmed.

"I know it is a bit much to remember, but it will get easier with more practice," Max said.

I like Patch, but I didn't know if riding was for me. I could not tell him that though.

"Okay," I said. "Would it be okay if I just walked around for a while," I asked him.

"Yeah," he said. "Why don't you go talk to some of the other riders?"

I nodded and made my way back to the Lounge. I sat on the couch. I felt exhausted. A girl came and sat next to me.

"How are you doing?" she asked. I think her name was Lisa.

"I'm okay. It has been a bit overwhelming," I told her. She seemed nice.

"Yeah, you should have seen my first lesson," she laughed. "I am sure you did way better."

"I don't know about that. It was pretty bad."

"No really Lisa's was really bad." Stevie said. She came over and sat next to Lisa.

"Yeah, she almost killed Stevie." Carole said sitting down across from us.

"I didn't almost kill Stevie," Lisa laughed.

"I don't know Lis it was a close call," I could tell Stevie was teasing her. They all laughed.

Lisa looked at me. "I brought my phone into my first lesson, and my mom called me. It scared Stevie's horse and she nearly fell off. We weren't friends then to say the least." She smiled at her friends. "I was so upset. I never wanted to hurt her. They thought that I was mean, but I proved to them that I wasn't and that I wanted to be their friend. We have been friends ever since." She looked at me again. "So you see, I think your first lesson went well."

"You will get better," Carole added with a smile.

"We can even help if you would like," Stevie said.

"Thanks," I said back. They all seemed really nice. Maybe everything was going to be okay here. I really wanted to be happy again, but I also felt bad about being happy. My mom just died. Was it okay to be happy after that?

"I think I need all the help I can get. To be honest I don't know if I really want to ride."

"Oh I felt the same way in the beginning," Lisa said. "Believe me it gets better. You get the hang of it faster than you think."

I smiled at them. Maybe I could like riding. Maybe I could really like it here with my…..dad.


	4. Rules

Rules

"Do you want to come eat lunch with us," Carole asked me as she stood up.

"I already ate," I lied. "But thanks for asking me." I wasn't hungry.

"Okay, you should eat with us tomorrow," Stevie said also getting up. "We can all go to JB's. It's a diner in town."

"Okay thanks for inviting me. It sounds like fun." I said. I wasn't eating, and I knew I should be worried, but every time I thought of food it made my stomach turn. I only ate at Max's house because I didn't want to be rude.

"Cool," Lisa said. "We can meet you here around noon tomorrow?"

I nodded and they left. Maybe I could have friends here.

I walked around the stables for a couple hours. I just need some time to myself. I was walking back inside the barn when a girl ran into me. She was looking down, and I didn't see her because I had just come around the corner.

"Excuse me," she demanded. "I am walking here."

"You ran into me," I said back. Usually I would have just walked away, but I blame the lack of sleep and the lack of food. Course the lack of food was my fault. "You weren't looking where you were going." I didn't recognize her. She was not in the Lounge when I meet everyone else.

"Excuse me. You were the one running into the barn and coming out of nowhere," she said back.

"I didn't run," I said back. "And you are excused." She was really starting to make me mad.

"Who do you think you are? You obviously don't know who I am."

"I can assure you princess I could care less," I said back. Her face got red with anger.

"I'm Veronica DiAngleo."

"Is that supposed to mean something to me?" I was really getting tired of her snobby attitude.

"It should my dad owns willow creek. Which means without me this stable that you are riding at would be finished."

"Well it must be great to be you," I said sarcastically. "Now if you will excuse me princess I was headed somewhere." I went to walk passed her.

She moved in front of me to stop me from leaving. "You owe me an apology."

She must have been out of her mind. My fist clinched. "I don't owe you anything." I glared at her. "Now move out of my way or I'll…"

"What is going on here," I heard Max ask firmly coming up behind me.

Veronica looked up at him. "She ran into me and I asked her to apologize and she won't."

I turned around to look at Max. He had his arms crossed over his chest.

"That is not true," I said. "She ran into me. She stepped in my way so I couldn't leave and demanded an apology, but I have nothing to apologize for." I glared at Veronica again.

"I want you both in my office please," Max said with his arms still crossed.

"But I didn't do anything," I tried.

"No, I didn't do anything," Veronica said.

"Now, girls. We will talk about this in my office."

He didn't believe me, and now I have made him mad. I ran passed him out the barn. "Alex," I heard him say, but I kept running. I ended up in one of the many fields at Pine Hollow. I sat down and cried. I hated crying. The fact that I was crying made me mad at myself. I knew I would mess this up.

I stayed there for about an hour. Max would probably ask me to leave. I made that Veronica girl mad, and that could hurt his business. What if her dad shuts this place down? It would be all my fault. I got up and made my way to the Regnery house. I needed to pack my things.

I walked inside and saw Max pacing. Mrs. Reg, Deb, and Red were sitting looking at Max.

Max looked up when he heard the door. "Oh thank God." He ran to me and hugged me to him. I pushed him away and ran up the stairs. "Alex, wait...," he said. I got to my room and started packing my things back into their boxes. Max came through my door less than a minute later.

"Alex? Where did you go? We were worried about you. We had everyone looking for you." He finally realized that I was putting my stuff back into the boxes. "What are you doing?"

"I'm packing," I said. I refused to answer the other questions. There was not need in it. He was going to ask me to leave anyways.

"Why are you packing?" When I didn't answer he came over to me and took the stuff out of my hands. "Why are you packing?"

I looked up at him with angry tears in my eyes. "Because you are going to ask me to leave," I said stiffly.

He pulled me over to the bed and sat down. "Sit down please." He guided me to sit next to him.

"Alex, look at me." When I didn't look at him, he put his hand under my chin and lifted it so our eyes would meet. "I'm not going to ask you to leave. I'm not going to let you leave. This is your home now. I want you to stay here. You are my daughter," he said. Tears started pouring down my face. He pulled me into a hug and this time I didn't resist. I let him hold me until I couldn't cry anymore.

"Are you okay to talk," he asked me.

"Yeah," I said my voice cracked. His arms were still around me.

"You scared me today when you ran off. We were looking for you everywhere."

"I'm sorry Max. I thought you didn't believe me so I ran."

"I believed you Alex, but I wanted to resolve what happened between you and Veronica, and I thought it would be best to resolve it in private. That is why I wanted to talk to both of you in my office."

"Oh," I said. I felt bad. "I'm sorry."

"I know," he said hugging me close to him. "I think we need to talk about the rules and consciences that will be expected in this house." He wasn't angry when he said this, but I could tell he was being serious.

"Okay," I said. I pulled away from him and looked at my hands in my lap. I figured we would talk about that sooner or later. Every home has rules.

"I want you to come and talk to me if you are upset. That means no running away or hiding." He said. "I don't tolerate disrespect or lying either. You have a curfew of 10pm. You cannot be out passed that. I will probably add rules as time goes on. If you break the rules, you will be punished. Since you broke some of the rules before I told you what they were I am going to let you off with a warning." I looked up at him. He looked stern. "The punishment you receive depends on what rules you break. Know that I will put you over my knee if I think you need it."

I blushed. Mom spanked me, but not a whole lot.

"Do you understand," he asked me.

"Yes Sir," I said looking back down. "I'm sorry Max."

He hugged me to him again. "I forgive you Alex," he said. "And, I want you here. Please don't ever think I could let you go. I have been out of your life for too long I am not about to let you go now." He kissed the top of my head. I curled into him. I felt like her cared.

"Now, I think we should go let everyone know you are okay. Then, we can eat dinner. Me, you, and Veronica will be talking tomorrow morning," he told me.

"Okay," I said.

We got up and went down stairs.


End file.
